


Little Paladins

by Zaylo



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A lot - Freeform, Arrietty Au, Blood and Injury, Broken Bones, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Freezing, G/T, Giant/Tiny, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Hunk (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Hunk (Voltron)-centric, Hypothermia, Injury, Macro/Micro, Medication, Minor Injuries, Mouse traps, Panic, Passing Out, Pets, Pidge gets stuck, Protective Matt, Shoulder Rides, Sick Lance (Voltron), Starvation, Stubborn Lance (Voltron), Swearing, Tiny Allura, Worried Keith (Voltron), Worried Lance (Voltron), a whole prompt dedicated to hunk because he deserves love, accidental injury, borrower, borrower au, broganes, bros being bros, cooking with hunk, falling, holding tiny people, ill lance, keith can be clumsy, keith gets caught, kidnapped hunk, living in the walls, lost Keith, matt and lance are good friends, matt and pidge the little rescuers, mini paladins, tiny coran, tiny hunk, tiny keith, tiny lance, tiny matt, tiny pidge, tiny shiro, yorak the space wolf
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-01 05:35:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15136259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaylo/pseuds/Zaylo
Summary: Basically, a ton of single chapter prompts with the paladins+coran in various situations regarding borrowers. Some chapters they will be tiny, others they will be normal sized. These will mostly contain fluff, but there shall be a fair share of angst as well. Each chapter is a different prompt, but a few of them do go together. If they do go together it will say "Part 2 to prompt _" and such.Also, some chapters have Keith's wolf which is named Yorak. He is the goodest boy.





	1. Free Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets himself into a sticky situation and gets help from the least likely person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \---Update---  
> Since season 7 revealed the dogs actual name i went through and changed it from Yorak, lol

Borrower(s): Lance

Human(s): Keith

 

 

Small pattering feet tapped lightly against a deep dark wooden floor in the small living room of a dainty sunlit apartment. The light filtered in through a screened window, casting a golden glow across the small room. It was a warm summer day so the window was open, letting a gentle breeze tousle the curtains that were usually tied shut.

Hasty puffs of breath followed the pattering of tiny feet as a small creature dove under a plush dark grey couch. The momentum from the sprint caused the tiny thing to slide further underneath than intended and long forgot dust and garbage greeted the creature.

Another set of much louder footsteps filled the ears of the tiny being as he cowered a bit in the dust fearfully. A thud reverberated through the floor and couch as the massive animal that had been chasing him crashed right into the dark furniture, growling and barking fiercely. A giant, wet black nose was shoved under the edge of the couch, nearly colliding right into the chest of the tiny thing that was hiding from it.

"Hah! Can't reach me, can you? You mangy mutt! Nana nana boo boo!" He teased as the wolf growled and tried to crawl further. Dusting off his deep blue turtleneck (A gift from his mom before he moved out on his own), the miniature human smirked at the dog. "You may have gotten my favorite outfit dirty, but I won this round. Lance Mclain is victorious yet again!" Months of living in the apartment had done the borrower good in learning how to escape from the furball. The massive Husky-Wolf hybrid let out a loud bark and pulled his face from under the couch as Lance kept up his teasing.

All Lance had to do now was sit and wait for the dog to lose interest so he could dash back to the hole in the floorboards behind the tv stand where the power cords were. In that hole was a small gap that Lance called home. It was a bit cramped, even for someone his size, but it was best he could do. Every other apartment in this small complex either had rats or traps to kill the rats. And him. While the dog wasn't ideal, it did keep the rats away.

"Better luck next time, Poochy," Lance said, sitting down cross-legged as he set his bag down in front of him. The dog's actual name was Kosmo but Lance loved spending his time thinking of ridiculous names for it. Another thing he liked to do was wreck stuff around the house and then blame it on the dog. More often than not the human that lived here would come home to broken jars or food laying out and immediately think the dog did it.

The human's name was Keith, but Lance didn't really care. The only things he cared about was having fun and not getting caught.

"Let's see, what did we manage to borrow this time?" Lance asked himself. He had a habit of speaking to himself seeing as he grew up in a big family. Living alone in a place as big as this was overwhelming sometimes when there was no one else to share it with.

Dumping the bag onto the floor in front of him, Lance smiled. It had been a good run after all despite the fact that Kosmo had caught onto him rather quickly. There were a few various food items like bits of cereal, a grape, some sugar and a coffee bean. He had been so happy when he first moved in and found that the human here drank coffee. Amongst the food, there were other small things like a few paperclips, a spare wire, a small piece of rolled up tape, and a thumbtack. Everything else were supplies that he brought with him like a small battery powered light and a rope with a fishhook on the end.

The hook was a much-needed thing seeing as the hole his home was in was at level with the tv a good 3 feet from the ground. Multiple times Kosmo had almost knocked over the tv just to try and get at him while he was scaling up the wall. It wasn't the best layout, but it was all he had.

Eventually, the wolf-like dog gave up on its hunt and retreated back through the kitchen and to his owner's room where he typically waited for the human to return. "Finally. I was starting to worry you'd be here forever." Lance commented, packing his stuff away into the bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "Now to get home, unpack what I got, sleep, and then repeat the same thing again tomorrow. Fantastic."

Lance would have been lying if he said that he wished something big would happen in his life. For the past several months it had been a pattern on repeat. It was boring and exhausting. He just wished anything would happen to change his life. Finding another borrower, finding a new place to live with less dangerous animals, the human going on a vacation so Lance could free roam, anything.

Pushing his thoughts aside, the borrower stood up and marched over to the edge of the couch and peeked out to the vast floor before him. It took him exactly 11 seconds to reach the tv stand in a full sprint, and it took 5 seconds for Kosmo to run from the bedroom to the living room. Once he started running it would take a few seconds for the dog to hear him and jump off the bed, There was no room for error once he was on the move.

"Here we ago. Again." With a sigh, Lance readied himself and then took off.

The borrower made it barely halfway when he could hear the loud barks and thuds of paws hitting the floor in the kitchen. He was going faster this time. The dog was learning. "Damn it!" Lance hissed through clenched teeth as he ran. Moments later he saw Yorak from the corner of his eye, dashing into the room. The yellow eyes locked onto him almost immediately, pupils shrinking dangerously.

Time seemed to slow down as Kosmo turned and bolted right at the tiny human running across the floor. Each paw hit the ground, sending a pulse through the floor that was drowned out by the knocking of Lance's heart as it raced a million beats a minute.

He let out a gasp as the dog loomed right over top of him, jaws opened wide and white teeth glistening inches away from him. The borrower squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath and waited for his imminent death. Snapped up in the jaws of a dog, and no one would even know he was gone. He didn't have any friends, no way to contact his family. He would be snuffed out and no one would care. No one would know he existed in the first place.

And then the dog slipped. It's over-excitement from nearly catching the borrower had thrown him off, and he was sent toppling to the floor, jaws now far away from Lance. The collision caused the floor to shake and Lance fell onto his side painfully, probably bruising his ribs. But now was no time to suk in pain. He had to run.

With a look of fear in his eyes and breath heavy in his aching lungs, the boy stood back up and sprinted under the tv stand before the flailing dog could even get back onto its feet. There, he collapsed to his knees and took a moment to collect his breath and calm his nerves. This is not what he meant when he said he wanted something big to happen in his life.

Lance nearly jumped out of his skin when a paw was shoved under the stand and nearly snagged him with jagged claws. With a yelp, he scrambled back to the wall. Looking up, he saw the gap where the wires went into the wall. If he could get there, he would be safe.

"Just gotta climb up a whole shelf with bruised ribs and a desperate dog hungry for a borrower, no big deal." Lance reach into his backpack and pulled out the hooked rope, getting ready to scale the side of the stand. Right before he threw the hook, Kosmo wedged his face right between the stand and the wall only inches away from Lance. He shrieked and the hook fell from his grip. Before Lance could grab it, Yorak pushed forward and _moved_ the stand away from the wall, letting him reach in further and blocking Lance's path to his hook.

"Plan B!" Lance yelled, turning and running over to a cluster of wires. Without hesitation, he began to climb them. He never used the wires before as his grip never held and they were in the dogs reach most of the time. But Kosmo was on the opposite side of the stand trying to get him this time.

As he climbed, the dog kept pushing more and more, slowly scooting the stand away from the wall with his massive size and strength. Each time it scooted Lance almost lost his grip on the smooth rubber coating on the wires. The sweat on his palms wasn't helping and neither was the ache in his ribs.

What seemed like hours but in reality was barely a minute, the hole in the drywall was visible a few inches above him. "Ha! Not this time!" Lance hollered at the dog. A bark was the response, and Lance realized his mistake.

With a snarl, Kosmo stepped back and then jumped forward, white and grey fur flowing like water with the momentum.

"Shit-" Was all Lance could say before Kosmo jammed his whole body behind the tv stand, head colliding into the wires Lance holding onto. With a jolt, Lance was flung free form his handhold, and he was sent falling through the air.

A scream ripped from his throat as he fell down, past the stand, past the dog, and straight down to the floor next to a set of massive paws. Taunting the dog had been a really bad idea after all.

Lance slammed into the floor and several sickening cracks splintered in the air, each sound coming from the frail bones in his body. Pain flared up in his right shoulder and right calf. Tears flowed from Lance's bright blue eyes as he yelled and whimpered pitifully. But he didn't have time for pain. The dog could reach him now.

Crying out with every little movement, Lance used his uninjured arm and dragged himself under the stand that had been shoved away from the wall. Looking up he saw Yorak trying to free himself from the mess of wire he had tangled himself in. Soon he was far enough under the stand where he could no longer see the dog with the exception of its paws scrabbling on the floor, claws leaving scratches on the smooth surface.

Now with some time to calm down, Lance gasped with each painful breath he took and took time to check his injuries. With how it was now, going anywhere wasn't an option. Cradling his bad arm to his chest against his shirt, he looked down at his bloody pant leg. Using his free hand, he pulled up the fabric slowly. "Gah!" Lance yelled out when he pants snagged on something. Slow and with much more caution, he finished pulling it up.

And he nearly vomited. His leg from the knee down was covered in blood, and right in the middle of his calf, a sharp bone was protruding from the tanned skin. He had broken his leg and it had stabbed through the flesh. On the very small bright side, it had missed any arteries so he wouldn't bleed out.

Swallowing to keep the bile in his stomach down, he rolled the sleeve upon his arm to check the damage there. It was swollen on his bicep and bruised an ugly shade of purple, but there was no blood and nothing was broken. It did feel dislocated though so that was another major problem.

A loud noise in front of him had him looking away from his injuries and to the source of the sound. Kosmo had finally untangled himself and was now laying down right in front of the tv stand with his nose wedged under it as far as he could go. But instead of growling, he was whimpering pitifully. And instead of scratching and shoving, he was nudging around and sniffing, trying to find where the tiny borrower had gone.

Blood. Kosmo could smell the blood. He was looking for his 'kill'. Lance had to get out of here. But how?

His thoughts were fuzzy and he felt something trickle down his neck. Reaching up and running his hand through the short hair on the back of his head, it came away warm and sticky. "Damn-" Lance muttered. Blood loss and possible concussion were no a massive threat. And he had no way of getting back home either. Broken legs took weeks to heal so he wouldn't be able to climb to the only entrance. He was as good as dead where he sat.

A wave of lightheadedness washed over him and Lance slumped sideways, breaths growing heavy along with his eyelids. A nap sounded really good right now. Maybe he would feel better when he woke up. It's not like the dog could reach him here anyway and he couldn't exactly do anything else.

But just as he closed his eyes, they snapped back open to the sound of keys being inserted into the front door. Keith was back.

"Oh god please no-" He whimpered as the door opened. Kosmo looked away from him for a split second and Lance got a glimpse of the black boots standing on the other side of the room, frozen in place.

"Kosmo!? What the hell did you do?!" The human asked, seeing the mess around the tv and how the stand was moved. A bag was set down as Keith marched over to the tv, each step sending jolts through the floor and Lance's body. Kosmo ignored Keith and went right back to sniffing and whimpering. "What has gotten into you lately?" The human asked in a quieter voice as he knelt by the dog to grab its collar.

To Lance's disdain, Kosmo fought against Keith's grip and kept trying to get under the stand, now pawing at the side of it anxiously. A hand rested on the floor beside the dog and Keith want to lower himself. Lance curled in on himself as if trying to make himself smaller than he already was.

"Did you lose a toy under here or somethi-" A violet eye filled Lance's view as Keith's words cut off in shock and surprise. "What the hell?" The human asked, locking eyes with Lance. They sat there for a small moment, just staring at each other. Lance felt like crying all over again. Earlier he wanted to do anything in his power not to die, but he had been seen by a human now. Death suddenly seemed like a very good idea.

"You're real...." Keith whispered in awe.

A sharp high pitched whine cut through the air and Keith broke their eye contact. He looked between Kosmo and Lance for a moment before locking eyes with the terror-filled blue ones once again. "Hold on a sec, I'll be right back. Please don't go anywhere." Keith pleaded with a gentle voice that Lance had only heard when the human was talking to the dog.

With slow movements, the black haired teen scooted back and grabbed the wolf-dog by the collar, more firmly than he had before. Kosmo tried protesting and pulling away, but Keith dragged him back and away from the tv stand before he could shove his nose back under there.

With his limited field of view, Lance watched as the wolf-dog was dragged through the kitchen and into the bedroom. Moments later he could hear the door slamming shut followed by whimpers and scratching noises. He had shut the dog in the bedroom.

Lance considered trying to hide while had the chance, but every moment was excruciatingly painful and sent his vision swimming with black spots. The blood on the back of his head had yet to stop flowing down the back of his blue shirt, staining it a deep crimson hue.

The footsteps returned, only much lighter this time. At least the human was being considerate about his size now.

With half-lidded lazy eyes, Lance watched as Keith lowered himself and crouch down to his level for a second time that day. "Are you ok?" He asked. Lance was tempted to reply and tell this guy to fuck off, but he doubted he could even make a sound other than pained whimpers at this point. He hoped the human would just give up and walk away like the dog usually did, but that wasn't the case this time.

A hand with a fingerless leather glove moved and pulled a small flashlight from an inside pocket of the red jacket Keith was wearing, and he clicked in on to get a better look in the shadowed area. The bright white light blinded Lance and had him squinting to keep from being blinded. A soft gasp left the human when Lance guessed he saw the injuries littering his small body. eyes now adjusted to the bright light, Lance looked at Keith's face and saw the violet eyes looking over his slumped form, taking in every detail he could.

The gaze left goosebumps on his skin. Humans had never once seen him. Not even a glimpse. So it was rather unsettling to have one staring right at him.

"You're hurt." The boy muttered. "Hold tight for a second, I'm going to get you out from under there." A small noise of protest left Lance and Keith stood up, leaving only his boots in Lance's sight. He didn't want to be caught. Bad things happened to borrowers who were caught. If you were seen, you could easily just move to a new location. But borrowers who got caught? They were never seen again.

A deafening creak came from the stand above Lance as Keith slid it across the floor slowly, pushing it back against the wall gently so he would be able to get to Lance. By the time the shelf was done moving, Lance had curled himself into a ball with his bruised and broken limbs laying loosely by his side.

"Sorry about that. That was pretty loud." Keith said awkwardly, almost like he was nervous. Lance figured that Keith knew he was terrified of him. Squatting back down, Keith seemed pleased that Lance was now out from under the shelf, giving him easier access to the injured borrower. Now in better lighting, Lance and Keith both saw the puddle of blood pooling around Lance's body. "I'm going to pick you up now, ok?" Keith asked.

Since he couldn't answer verbally, Lance responded by pitifully trying to crawl back to the dark confines of the stand. Keith saw this and panicked a bit, reaching forwards hastily. "I know you're terrified and I'm probably the last person you want touching you right now, but you're hurt and need help. I promise I'm not going to hurt you."

Blue eyes snapped wide open when the gloved hand from earlier returned and reached out towards him, the second hand not far behind. Forgetting his injuries he tried to push himself away and escape, but the pain from his dislocated shoulder had him collapsing to the floor again. Before he could sit up, Keith's hand curled behind him. He gasped in pain as the hand closed around him in a loose fist.

The pressure from the grip didn't last long as the fist opened and Lance found himself being cradled gently with both hands. With a haze over his mind and black spots filling his vision, Lance caught a glimpse of his blood staining Keith's fingertips from where he had touched the spot on the borrower's shirt.

His world was sent spinning as the human stood up, bringing his hands full of Lance close to his chest for better stability and a smoother ride. With his good arm, Lance gripped the leather glove under him tightly.

Moments later, Lance found himself being set down on a smooth countertop in the kitchen, It was cold compared to the warm skin he was just sitting on, but he would take the counter over Keiths hands any day.

Slumping down again, Lance watched as Keith moved away to start shuffling through cupboards in search of something. Back by the fridge, Lance could see the bedroom door shake occasionally as Kosmo pawed at it and whimpered, trying to get out.

He must have passed out some point because he awoke later to find himself in a different spot. Judging by the fact that it was now dark outside, a few hours had gone by.

And Lance was somehow not dead. Huh, that was a surprise.

Groaning, Lance sat up, clutching his aching head. The dim ceiling light above was on, casting a dim white glow across the room. He was back in the living room somehow. Looking around he noticed that he was on top of a folded red handkerchief on top of the coffee table. Peering over to the tv stand he saw that the blood had been cleaned up and everything looked normal as if nothing had happened over there.

A sharp spike of pain reminded him why he had been caught in the first place. Looking down, Lance gasped softly when he saw his pant leg rolled up, and his leg was neatly bandaged with a soft white cloth strip. It was stained with a little bit of blood but the bone was no longer protruding from his skin and t hurt a lot less. Looking over the rest of his body, he found his shirt had been removed completely and that his arm and ribcage were also bandaged. Reaching up, he found that his head had a wrap on it as well.

Turning around, he saw a small pile of medical supplies laying next to an open first aid kit and a set of tweezers along with what looked like a magnifying glass. Had the human done this? Speaking of which, where was Keith?

Looking around, it seemed like the rest of the apartment lights were off. So where was he?

A light snoring sound came from the couch and Lance whipped around, nearly giving himself a headache. Laying on the couch with his back facing Lance, laid Keith, sleeping peacefully. A dark blanket covered Keith so that it made him nearly blend in with the couch completely, which is why Lance hadn't seen him yet.

Unsure of what else to do, Lance scooted over to the edge of the makeshift cloth bed he was on and looked around for his shirt. The blue turtleneck lay discarded by the medical stuff and it looked like the blood had been cleaned out of it. Lance faintly wondered how Keith had gotten the shirt off of him without cutting it.

Shivering a bit at the chilly night air, Lance scooted further to the edge of the cloth and went to grab the blue long sleeve. For a moment, Lance lost his balance and fell onto his back, jarring his bruised shoulder (Which was no longer dislocated) and letting out a sharp cry of pain.

With a sense of panic, Lance looked over at Keith. The small shout caused the black haired human to move around a bit before sitting up. Lance watched fearfully as the boy turned around quickly with wide eyes as if expecting Lance to be gone. The borrower shuddered a bit when Keith smiled in what seemed like relief.

"You're awake. I was starting to worry that you wouldn't wake up at all." Keith said with his voice laced heavily with sleep. "How are you feeling?" Ask he spoke, the boy slowly turned his body around to sit normally on the couch, keeping his eyes on Lance's small frail form.

The borrower did not speak. He just looked up at the human with wide eyes full of confusion. Why was Keith helping him? Weren't humans supposed to be evil creatures that killed things like him? Or worse, kept them as pets? Humans were supposed to be terrifying things that could easily end his life with the flick of a finger or one missed step. But Keith wasn't doing any of that.

"This might be a dumb question, but can you talk? At all?" Keith questioned.

Lance wasn't sure why, but he felt himself nod slowly. The smile returned to Keith's lips, but much softer this time. A silence settled over them and Keith looked around awkwardly as if trying to find something to say. Thankfully, Lance spoke up first.

"What are you going to do with me?" Lance asked quietly, voice strained from the ache in his lungs and throat from screaming and bruises. The question seemed to surprise the human sitting in front of him.

"Other than help you get better, I don't really plan on doing anything to you. I was actually going to ask what you wanted to do. I'm not going to keep you in a cage or anything if that's what you're thinking. I wasn't lying when I said I wouldn't hurt you." Keith admitted, folding his hands together in his lap.

"Oh," Lance replied. "Why?" He questioned. He didn't want to make the human mad, but he wanted answers.

"Why not? You were hurt and I wasn't just going to leave you there. That's just cruel. And I have no reason to hurt you. You haven't done anything wrong. If anything I should actually be apologizing to you." Keith stated, scratching the back of his neck and looking a bit nervous. Lance could think of several reasons in the form of many missing objects and stolen food.

"Wait, what?" Lance asked. What did the human have to apologize for? Other than capturing him obviously.

"My dog, Kosmo. He's the reason you got hurt, right? He doesn't usually do that since I trained him to not chase people or smaller things. He used to chase rabbits all the time until I told him not too. So I'm not really sure why he was after you. He's not after you now, but still." Keith stated.

"Wait, not after me now? What do you mean?" Lance asked, looking around. Had Keith let the dog out of the bedroom?

"He got out of the room somehow while I was fixing your leg, but he didn't try and get at you. He just kept trying to smell you. I think he likes you actually." Keith commented.

The tension melted away from Lance's shoulders as the two of them spoke as if they were having a normal conversation. Suddenly he didn't feel as scared as he had before. Why would Keith spend all that time and effort to bandage him only to hurt him later? He wouldn't so Lance guessed he was safe for now.

"I doubt it. He tries to come after me every time I come out of hiding." Lance explained, scooting back onto the handkerchief to get off of the cold table surface. He shivered a bit as the cold air dug into his bare chest and back. Keith seemed to notice and slowly reached up to the table with one hand. Lance cowered back a bit, thinking he was going to grab him, but instead, Keith grabbed the dark blue turtleneck and gently set it down within Lance's reach, never once touching him.

"Th-thank you." The borrower muttered. With great care and effort, he pulled the thick long sleeve over his head and over his injuries. The warmth set in immediately and he felt much better.

"No problem. Do you need anything else? A blanket, water, anything?" Keith asked, eyeing him carefully. This pale-skinned human was really defying every single one of Lance's expectations.

Lance was getting ready to say no when his stomach decided to answer for him with a loud gurgling noise that left Lance blushing in embarrassment. He let out a small nervous laugh and Keith merely chuckled.

"I'll go find something for you to eat and I'll get you a blanket too just in case. Try not to fall off the table, alright?" He asked with a small smirk. Lance raised an unamused eyebrow.

Unsure how to answer, Lance just gave a small nod. Content with the answer, Keith stood up to his full, very intimidating height and walked into the kitchen. As Lance watched him leave he thought, maybe, just maybe,

He could trust this human.


	2. Hanging Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge gets stuck, and needs a little help.

Borrower(s): Pidge

Human(s): Lance

 

        Borrowers were creatures of stealth, always quietly hidden away in fear of being caught by the giant's homes they resided in. They never spoke loudly, sang, or listened to music. Even if they got their hands on something that could play music, they never used it because if a human heard music under the floorboards, the borrowers would be found for sure. 

        However, Pidge was always known for breaking the rules. 

        Right now, she was loudly singing her heart out to the song 'Colors' as it was blasted from a surround sound system that the human had set up in the living room. The human who lived here was currently in the middle of spring cleaning so this was one of Pidge's last chances to snag some lost items before they were swept away.

        Currently, she was in the kitchen cabinet where the water heater was located. The area was more like a small closet that the human resident used to stash junk like old boxes of unused cords and old papers. After today, the closet would be emptied out so Pidge was making sure to grab anything of value before it was gone. 

        And fortunately for her the human she shared a home with absolutely loved music. And he loved to play it loudly all of the time. This meant that making noise was never really a problem for her. As matter of fact, it was quite the pleasant bonus. More often than once she paused her borrowing runs to watch the human dance around and sing like no one was watching. Because to him, no one was.

        But Pidge? She saw everything the boy did and wished that there were cameras small enough so that she could catch one of his dance party moments. 

        Even now as she watched him dancing around with a mop in his hands through a crack in the closet door he only further proved his ridiculousness. Most borrowers were terrified of humans, but Pidge found herself highly fascinated and amused by this tall lanky tan one who loved to perform in his own little world. If only she knew his name.

        The boy hardly had friends over. If he wanted to hang out, he usually met up with them elsewhere so never once heard anyone say his name and there was no way in hell she was going to waltz up to him and ask. Sure the human seemed friendly enough, but that's what she had thought about the last humans she lived with.

        About a year ago she lived in a humans house with her brother and father. The two had decided to try and befriend the human when their food stashes were running low one winter. They never came back and the human started setting traps to try and catch the youngest borrower. Pidge had a wild guess as to what happened to them. 

        And so she packed up her things and moved. Weeks of scavenging for food on the streets and trying not to get eaten, she found herself outside of a home that had just been moved into. It seemed like she hadn't been the only one moving. A boy a few years older than Pidge was had finished high school and was starting a life of his own. This was good for Pidge as it was easier to hide from one human than from multiple. She moved in right away.

        And she had been living in the house for a year alongside the energetic human and had yet to even make him suspicious of her existence. The tiny borrower may have been more relaxed around the bot than she should have been, but she never left any trails. No open bags, no moved objects, no holes in the walls, nothing. She only took things that were lost under shelves, broken, in the trash, or discarded. 

        Thus why she was in the kitchen cabinet now, climbing across some old wires to reach a box that had old office supplies in it. Pidge needed to see if there was a calculator in there with spare wire so she could hook her light up to Lance's light that way her light went off when he flipped the switch. 

        "Just a bit further-" She muttered. The girl had chosen the quickest (not the safest) route she could see and was now climbing along a wire suspended 4 feet from the cement floor below. Not one of her brightest ideas, but the human was almost done cleaning the living room and would be clearing out the closet soon.

        However, fate had different plans.

        The song that was playing slowed down to a stop and a heavy silence filled the house for a moment while the boy searched for another song to play. Right before he found one, Pidge slipped.

        With a high pitched shriek, her hand slipped from the bundle of wire she was crawling across and her small body fell to the side. In a blind panic, she Kicked out with her foot and managed to snag it in the cluster of wire just before her body fell from it completely. Fear and panic seized her racing heartbeat as she hung in the dark by her leg, panting heavily. Now she was hanging by her foot with no way of getting up. Outside of the closet, the music stopped.

        "Hello?" A voice called. "Anyone there?" The human had heard her scream. Shuffling could be heard as the boy started walking from the living room to investigate the noise he had heard. 

        "Damn it-" Pidge muttered, still hanging her foot. One wrong move and she would fall, but she had to get out of here now or be caught by the one thing she should fear the most. 

        Throwing caution to the wind, the borrower tried curling her body upwards to try and grab at the wire she was dangling from. This only resulted in her foot slipping, making her freeze in panic as her body dropped a bit. One more move and she was as good as dead.

        Before she could attempt to reach up again, the closet door swung open. And in the very short span of 5 seconds, three things happened.

        First, Pidge turned her head to lock her frightened gaze with the boy who had a look of shock and awe in his bright blue eyes. The second thing to happen was the mop in the human's hand to slip from his grip and drop behind him on the kitchen floor. 

        And the third thing was the two of them letting out a shriek at each other. Both very girly sounding. Pidges was out of pure horror and the boys scream sounded like someone who had just seen a rat scurry across the floor. 

        "What the hell!?" The boy asked in shock, gaze slowly morphing to confusion and disbelief as Pidge continued trying to hoist herself back onto the wire. Her idea was that maybe if he stayed distracted by confusion long enough, she could bolt. Another shout came from her when she saw hands cup beneath her flailing form.

        "Oh hell no!" Pidge hollered. She was NOT about to let herself be grabbed by this guy. More frantic and not caring if she fell at this point, Pidge tried flinging her body upwards in an attempt to grab the wire again. 

        "Ah! Be careful you might fall!" The human stated, stepping forward and raising his cupped hands. He looked like he really wanted to grab her but seemed hesitant, as it was clearly obvious she didn't want to be touched.

        "I'll fall if I want! Just back off and leave me be! I've got this under control-" RIght when Pidge finished the sentence, her grip slipped from the wire she hand managed to grab and was now hanging by her foot yet again. "God damn it!" She yelled, now out of pure frustration than anything else.

        At this point, she wasn't even worried about the human that kept trying to hold her. It was clearly obvious that he didn't want to harm or capture her and was more worried about her falling than anything. That didn't mean she wanted him touching her though.

        "Sorry about this but I really don't want you falling." The boy stated. Slowly his hands moved up towards her hanging from. One hand stayed cupped beneath her while the other slowly wrapped around her waist, fingers gripping her body gently. Letting out a surprised yelp the borrower tried desperately to reach and get a grip on the wire before she was pulled away from it, but being upside down this long was starting to give her a headache. 

        Thankfully, the human that delicately held her around her waist slowly flipped his hand to where she was being held upright, the girl's hair now a huge mess. Fixing the awkward handhold, the human cupped his other hand under her again and set her down there. "You ok?" He asked.

        "Oh yeah, totally, just sitting in the hands of something I've been hiding from my whole life. Totally ok." She replied with a heavy dose of raw sarcasm. The comment caused the giant to chuckle a bit, causing the hand Pidge was sitting on to shake a bit. 

        "No offense but you really haven't done a good job at staying hidden." He said with a small eye roll and smirk. Pidge quirked an eyebrow at him, adjusting her position so she was sitting up properly, looking at her captor and savior. 

        "Wait, what do you mean by that?" She asked. "Did.....did you know I was here?"

        "Well, kind of?" He said with a small shrug. "Here, let's go sit down and talk instead of doing it in a dark closet. Besides, I want to get a good look at you." The human commented as he backed out of the small cramped room. The girl let out a surprised squeak as he started moving, clutching onto one of his partially curled fingers to steady herself.

        "So, what's your name?" The boy asked, cupping both hands around her to make sure she wouldn't fall. The borrower noticed how the human was walking slowly with small steps to try and make the ride for her as smooth as possible as he desperately clung to his fingers. Riding in a hand was weird. It was really warm for one but also very unusual. 

        "Pidge." She replied, eyeing the floor nervously as it flew by beneath her. 

        "Huh, weird name. Anyway, the name's Lance!" He exclaimed as he walked into the newly cleaned living room. The boy made his way over to a chair and sat down very carefully, eyes on Pidge the entire time. She wondered if Lance was going to put her on the coffee table, but he made no move to let her off of his hands any time soon.

        "So," Lance started. "I ask you a question, then you ask me a question. That sound fair?" He asked with a genuine smile that made Pidge wonder why Borrowers ever feared humans to begin with. Looking up at him, she nodded.

        "Alright, question number one. How long have you been living here?" He asked. As he spoke Pidge readjusted herself to where she was sitting cross-legged, nestled perfectly into the curve of the human's palm. 

        "Long enough to know you like Shakira and Luis Fonsi music just a little too much." A warm-hearted laugh rang in her ears as Lance chuckled. She couldn't help but smile despite how nervous she was. Pidge wasn't scared of him, but it was still unnerving how big he was compared to her seeing as she was barely the size of one of the fingers that lay beneath her. 

        "Fair point. Alright, your turn." He stated, moving one of his hands so he could rest his head on it as he looked at her with a gentle smile.

        "What did you mean earlier when you said you 'kind of' knew I was here? That doesn't really make any sense. You either knew I was there or you didn't." The borrower tilted her head a bit as she looked up at him. The boy's focus seemed to be elsewhere though as he gazed upon her tiny form as if inspecting her. She shifted under his heavy gaze a bit.

        He seemed to notice her discomfort and sat back a bit. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I've just....." he paused and sighed a bit. "My grandma. Before she passed away she always told me stories about people like you. Small people who lived in the walls and floors of our houses. I always believed her when I was younger. As I got older I believed her less and less, but I always hoped you were all real I guess. So when little things started going missing after I moved here, my mind immediately pointed to borrowers." He explained, face flushing in embarrassment. "I guess old abuelita was right. You guys are real." A soft, sad smile appeared on his lips as his gaze fell towards the floor.

        "Missing things? I made sure to only use old stuff that you lost. Hw did you know I took them?" Pidge questioned.

        "I never lose anything. Sure, things may not end up where they're supposed to be, but I always notice the little things, Paper clips that used to be under my bed, a mismatched sock by my laundry, everything. I grew up in a house with a lot of people, which meant a lot of stuff laying around. So now that there's less laying around, it's easier to notice." 

        So no matter how careful she had been, how evasive she tried to be and how hard she worked to not leave any traces of existence behind, he had still found out about her. She tried so hard not to end up like Matt and her father, but in the end, they had all three been found out. But Lance was different than her family's kidnappers, right?

        "Hey, you ok there?" Lance asked, snapping Pidge out of her trance. "You kind of blanked out there for a minute." He pointed out. He had lifted his hand a bit closer to his face without her noticing and his gaze washed over her, full of concern.

        "Y-yeah. just some bad memories." She hurried to say. That last thing she wanted to do was spill her life stories to this guy.

        He didn't seem convinced, but he didn't push the issue either. "Anywho, I was asking if you wanted something to eat. If my grandma's stories are completely true I'm going to assume you scavenge for food?" He asked. She nodded in reply. "Well, lucky for you, my friend Hunk is an excellent cook and he taught me how to make spaghetti without burning the house down. Want some?"

        Well, that sealed the deal for Pidge. Free food without having to climb shelves to get it? "Heck yeah." 

        Pidge was a rulebreaker her whole life, so what's one more rule broken by making friends with a human?  


	3. Floodwater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "How about some hurt borrower Keith and human hunk?"
> 
> You can also leave an idea in the comments below if you'd like!

Borrower(s): Keith, Shiro

Human(s): Lance, Hunk

 

        "Shiro!" Keith yelled, his voice drowned out by the thundering of raindrops falling around him as they splashed onto the ground. Thunder boomed overhead in the dark gray sky, the clouds darker now since dawn was approaching. Along with the light and the black haired borrower's voice, the temperature went as well.

        "Keith!" The equally terrified voice replied, much deeper than the first. 

        Dropping to his knees and leaning down over the edge of a curb, Keith could only watch as the current of the runoff water dragged his brother down the street at breakneck speed. Shiro couldn't swim, not with one arm. But what terrified Keith was that Shiro was being pulled away from him. If they got separated outside there was no chance of them finding each other ever again. 

        Hastily, Keith climbed to his feet, careful not to slip and fall like Shiro had. If he jumped in after Shiro, they both had a chance of being washed into the sewers and storm drains. They would both be as good as dead down there, so Keith had to be careful and think this through instead of rushing in head first. 

        He tried his best, ran his fastest, but Shiro was being swept away too fast to keep up. It didn't help that every five seconds he was being knocked over or stumbling when a single raindrop hit him. 

        It didn't take long for him to lose sight of Shiro in the pouring rain.

        "No......" He said, voice raw and husky as tears started to build up in his eyes. "No no no-" He had just lost his only family to the rain. "Oh god, Shiro..." The one-armed borrower had no chance of survival now. If he didn't drow first, he would be dumped into the sewers and either die from the fall or succumb to the rats. 

        Another boom of thunder preceded by a bright flash of lighting reminded him of the very storm that stole his family. Whether Shiro was gone or not, he still had to get inside. 

        Wiping away the rainwater and tears, Keith stepped far away from the road and the curb and turned to look at his surroundings. Thankfully he and Shiro had made it to a small neighborhood with plenty of small cozy homes before the storm had hit. Thay had come here hoping to find the home of someone elderly that was easy to borrow from and easier to hide from. 

        Closest to him was a cozy home with light yellow paint on the outside and a small van parked in the driveway. They had been this close to a home and Shiro was washed away. Only a few more minutes and they could have both made it. Unfortunately, their luck had run out.

        Clutching his small backpack closer, Keith started his trek to the house, opting to walk through the grass instead of going around. Whoever lived here did a good job at yardwork seeing as the grass was well trimmed, allowing Keith to walk and have the blades of grass reach only his waist. 

        Pants stained with mud and the rest of his body soaked to the bone, Keith made it to the front porch of the home. By now the storm was starting to let up and the sun was setting, casting a golden glow across the misty sky above. 

        Thankfully, the door had a mail slot on the front of it that looked wide enough for the borrower to squeeze through. Taking the roped hook from the side of his bag, he spun it around a few times before tossing it up. Thankfully it hooked the edge of it on the first try. Giving it a tug and deeming the line strong enough, he started to climb.

        Once to the top, he very slowly pushed the hatch open and peeked into the house. The lights were on which meant someone was up and around. He would have to move fast. 

        Pulling the rope in, he hooked it on a new spot and began his descent down the door. Sliding down proved to be faster and thanks to his gloves, his hands were left unharmed. He wiggled the rope free and then dashed for the nearest cover which just so happened to be a couch. Surprisingly, the underside of the couch was completely clean, no dust at all. That wasn't good.

        Once he resupplied, he would have to leave this house. With how clean it was kept, he wouldn't be able to borrow much. 

        Now safely hidden under the couch, Keith allowed himself a moment to rest. Taking off his bag, the borrower flopped backward and laid off his spine, taking deep breathes. And like the weight of the world, reality came crashing down. 

        He wouldn't make it very far without Shiro. The brother figure had saved him more times than he could count and had taught him everything he knew. Without Shiro, he didn't know what to do. The white-haired borrower always had a plan. Keith didn't.

        So hidden away in the shadow of the couch, Keith allowed himself to cry without shame.

 

        ----The next day----

        Overnight, Keith had learned that 2 people live in this house and they are the exact opposite of what Keith and Shiro were originally looking for. Instead of old people like the rest of the neighborhood, it was two young adults fresh out of high school. One was named Hunk, which Keith deemed an appropriate title. The guy was huge. Then again everything was huge to Keith. Hunk tended to stay at home more often and spent the whole time cooking. He would wake up early every morning, start cooking, and by noon he would pack up the meals he made and leave for a few hours and return in time for his friend Lance to get home from his college classes.

        Lance was tall and lanky but in no way was he scrawny. He was also kind of loud and nosey, but he seemed like a nice guy overall. He and Hunk were like brothers. Whenever they were home at the same time, they were always in the same room with one another, always chatting, hanging out, or just sitting there and enjoying each others company. 

         And Keith was kind of jealous. He wished he could have that with Shiro. They were always to busy struggling to survive to have time like that though. Just because he was small his whole world was messed up and dangerous. He had to steal to eat and hide to stay alive. Just because of his size, he wasn't allowed to live a normal life like the humans around him.

        Unfortunately, his size also meant that he had to climb like Spiderman to get the cupboards holding the food he needed.

        Since hunk liked to cook, there was barley and instant food like granola bars or cereal. WIth a cook like Hunk, cereal wasn't needed that much. Thankfully, there was one box. But it was on top of the fridge that Keith was currently climbing up.

        He had some duct tape strips left in his pack and he had wrapped them around his hands to stick himself to the giant cooling machine. SO far he was doing pretty good. There was a lot of magnets on the size fo the fridge so there was plenty of places to take breaks.

        Hunk and Lance were both out of the house right now so he had a few hours to look for food that would last. So far, it was only the cereal. Hopefully he could find more food later, but for now, he would take as much of the dry breakfast foo as he could. 

        Once to the top, he used his hook to knock the box over (Things always just fell over randomly, so they hopefully wouldn't notice) and quickly made his way to the opening of the food.

        "You've got to be kidding me-" He groaned angrily and kicked the box. It was still brand new and sealed shut. He could easily open it with his knife, but then the humans would definitely notice something was taking food. 

        Then again, Keith was desperate and starving, and he wasn't planning on staying here for long. It was a risk he could take. 

        Grabbing his knife, Keith moved down to the bottom of the box and started to hack away messily at the corner. He would make it at least look like a mouse got into it and not someone with excellent knife skills. 

        It only too a few seconds for Keith to make a small hole to reach the plastic packaging. Sheathing his knife, the borrower grabbed the plastic with his gloved hands and ripped it open. With a small victory cheer, he grabbed some of the cereal and stuffed it in his bag.

        Once the bag was full, he started his climb back down. It was risky ripping open the cereal, but hey,

        What's the worst that could happen?

        ----The next day----

        Glue traps. That was the worst that could happen. And it did.

        Lance had found the cereal box only 2 hours after Keith had raided it and later while Keith was in hiding, he had put glue traps all over the kitchen. Even on top of the fridge.

        And now Keith was currently stuck to one. He had tried climbing the Fridge again and when he had grabbed the top of the fridge, there was a glue trap there. He had finished his climb and had attempted to get his hand off. He ended up getting his hand free, but in the process had fallen backward right into the trap.

        He had been there for an hour already, his panic morphing into acceptance, and then boredom. His hair was stuck as well, pinning his head down and forcing him to stare at the blank white ceiling while he was drowning in his own thoughts.

        If that wasn't bad enough when he had fallen his knife had been crushed under him, the sheath digging painfully into his lower spine and drawing blood. Ironically enough the glue trap was keeping him from bleeding out since his wound was under him.

        But he would end up dead either way. Hunk would be home soon, followed by Lance. 

        And soon enough, Keith heard the door open. Unable to look, the borrower could only listen as the human shuffled around, taking off his shoes putting away dishes from whatever he had cooked earlier that day. He hoped that maybe Lance didn't tell Hunk about the traps and that might give him enough time to try and figure out how to escape. Even though he couldn't move.

        His hopes were crushed when he heard a chair being moved over to the fridge.

        Eyes wide with fear and cowering back as much as he could with his restricted movements, Keith watched in horror and Hunk peeked over the side of the refrigerator farthest from him. 

        Massive deep brown eyes locked onto him and Keith froze. His breath hitched and Keith swore for a moment that his heart fluttered to a stop. This was it. The human would either be repulsed and crush him there or capture him as some cruel idea of a pet. 

        Knowing this was the end for him, Keith shut his eyes and turned his head away from the human best he could, the glue on the trap pulling on his hair painfully and making his scalp ache.

        He, however, did not expect a gentle hand to reach over and grab a corner of the trap and lightly tug on it. "Oh, you poor thing..." A deep and quiet voice rang into Keiths ears, making him snap his eyes open. Looking back over, he saw that Hunk had his eyebrows creased with worry as he gazed upon the tiny borrower. 

        Weakly, Keith tried lifting ones of his arms even though he knew it wouldn't work. Oh how badly he wanted his knife to be in reach.

        Seeing his panic, Hunk backed off immediately, hand retreating from the trap. "Woah, hey, calm down." He said gently. "I'm not gonna hurt you, little guy, I just want to get you off of that thing. It looks really painful-" Sympathy dripped from Hunks voice and somehow, for some reason, Keith relaxed and went still. 

        Taking this as permission to continue, Hunk scooted a bit closer and reached up with both hands, and slid them under the trap on the side that wasn't sticky. Slowly, he was pulled down from the fridge, cupped gently in the giant's hands. 

        "I told Lance not to use the glue traps-" Hunk mindlessly muttered to himself as he turned and gently laid the trap down on the counter. "I'm going to get some stuff to soften the glue so you can get off. Be right back!" And before Keith could mutter anything at all, Hunk was gone from the room. 

        He returned only a few seconds later carrying a small plastic bottle of what looked like vegetable oil and a handful of small q-tips. "This should work. You might need a bath after this though-" The big man commented. "Hopefully I can get you off of this before Lance gets home. He tends to over excite easily." Opening the bottle, he pours a small amount of oil into the cap and set it down beside the trap. "Quick question, can you talk? Because if you don't talk or speak English I feel like a big idiot just blabbing away to myself then."

        Keith almost laughed. This guy was the opposite of all the stories he had heard about humans who catch borrowers. Maybe he could trust this guy. "Y-yeah." He stammered out, voice raw from exhaustion and previous fright.

        "Ok, good. Because it would suck if you didn't." Hunk grabbed a q-tip and dipped it into the yellow tinted oil. "Close your eyes just in case, I don't want to accidentally get it in your eyes or something." He instructed. "Also there's going to be a lot of touching. You cool with that?"

        "Anything to get me off of this sticky crap." He replied. Keith trusted Hunk not to hurt him, but his size was still intimidating. He closed his eyes and turned his head away so Hunk could do his thing. 

        Keith jumped a bit when he felt the cold oil covered q-tip brush against the top of his head, slowly softening the glue holding his hair. Within seconds he could move his head again. Hunk moved onto his arms, and then his back. Eventually, Keith was able to sit up and he was painfully reminded of his wound. 

        "Oooooh no you're bleeding-" Hunk said, cringing a bit. Now that Keith had his arms free, he reached back and removed the knife and sheath from his belt, putting it in his lap before reaching back again. "No no no! Don't touch it that will make it worse. Wait till I get your legs unstuck and then I can help you bandage it." Hunk said hastily, hands hovering around Keith.

        He paused for a moment before nodding, realizing the human was right. And so, he let Hunk grab another q-tip without any further arguments.

        Soon his legs were unstuck, and he went to stand up. Unfortunately, the position he had been stuck in messed up his legs, causing him to stumble as his legs gave out beneath him. Hunk caught him easily, lifting him from the glue trap and setting him down on the counter. While he was covered in oil, sticky glue, and a bit of blood, at least he was out of the danger zone now.

        "Alright, let's get you patched up and cleaned off." Hunk said.

        ----an hour later----

        Cleaned and bandaged, Keith stood on the coffee table, Hunk in front of him on the couch. They had been chatting for a bit just to figure out what was going on. Lance had apparently set up the traps without telling Hunk what kind of trap they were after finding the opened box of cereal (Which Keith apologized for). He had originally wanted to set up harmless cage traps to if they caught any mice they could just release them outside. 

        In the middle of telling Hunk how he had ended up in the house in the first place, Lance walked in the front door and froze when he saw Keith. "What the hell," Lance stated.

        "Hey! You're um..... home late?" Hunk tried as a distraction. Lance didn't move his gaze off of Keith, and the borrower looked ready to bolt at a moments notice. "Lance, this is Keith, and if you stare any longer your gonna freak both of us out. 

        "Wait, you're name's Keith? As in Keith Kogane?" Lance asked, a single eyebrow raised and his shock replaced with what looked like confusion.

        "How the hell do you know my last name?" Keith asked defensively. Lance walked fully into the house and closed the door behind him.

        "Because I just met your brother at my friend Pidge's house like 10 minutes ago." 

        In two seconds flat Keith was at the edge of the table. "You found Shiro!?" He asked. Hunk nearly had to keep him from falling off the table.

        "Well, no. Pidge's dog found him and he hitched a ride until Matt found him and then he was just hanging out with him and Pidge until today. I came here to let Hunk know and ask if he wanted to come to see him. You wanna come too?" Lance offered.

        "Yes, please. Take me with you." he practically begged.

        A few minutes and a pocket ride later, Keith was reunited with his brother and met a family of nerds. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if the ending seems rushed, I didn't realize how long it was getting!


	4. Free Falling (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets sick and tries hiding it. The dog gets involved, no one's happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you curious what Keith's dog looks like, this is roughly what most wolf-dog breeds look like.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgKJsXm05fw  
> Also, I went back through the first name and changed the dogs' name from Yorak to Kosmo since his name was confirmed in the show.

        It had been 3 weeks since Lance had been discovered by Keith. Seeing as the borrower's injuries had been rather serious from the fall off the tv stand, the human had kept a close eye on him. It was a bit overwhelming at times since Keith didn't really have an impulse control and seemed to forget just how tiny Lance was sometimes. 

        Whenever Keith carried him, he tended to move a bit too quickly or grip just a tad too hard when lifting him. But the borrower didn't dare speak up about it. He trusted Keith enough to know he meant no harm, but he was still terrified of him.

        Thankfully, borrowers healed quickly due to how well adapted they were, and their size. So by now, Lance was healed completely with the exception of a small limp. And that meant no more being carried around. Bonus points for Lance.

        But Keith liked holding Lance. A lot. Similar to a child with small animals, they only wanted to hold them close. He was glad Lance had healed quickly and had recovered from his near-death experience but was saddened when the tiny version of a human went right back into hiding.

        In hope of befriending the borrower, he often left food out in easy to reach places that Lance could get to easily without the dog getting it. Kosmo still tried chasing Lance, but not as quickly or violently as before. One time the dog had actually caught up to him and had nudged Lance from where he was hiding under a counter edge. Lance freaked out when Kosmo had tried 'biting' him only to find out that the dog just wanted to pull him out of hiding so he could get a better look at him.

        And yet, despite there being a human aware of his existence and a massive dog with even bigger curiosity, Lance had other problems to deal with. 

        The past few weeks had caused him so much stress that he had fallen ill. Along with stress on his body, the sudden change in diet had thrown him off as well. Going from scraps to actual meals had confused his stomach so much that it was just rejecting everything Lance ate.

        For the first day, he pushed through it. No need to tell Keith or worry about it.

        The second day brought fever and headaches. A bit alarming, but nothing he hadn't dealt with before. 

        The third day, he couldn't even get out of his hole in the wall. He was too weak and lightheaded to make his way down the tunnels to the opening behind the tv, let alone climb down the little rope ladder Keith had gifted him. The most he could do was limp over to his food and water stache (Which were running low) while clinging to the walls for support. 

        Once or twice he could hear Keith wandering around the house, quietly calling his name for a few minutes before giving up with a sigh when Lance did not reply. And the borrower tried each time to answer, but his throat was so raw only rasping came out with a few pained coughs.

        By the 4th day, Lance decided that he had to do something now or starve. His food was out and he could barely stand at all. It was times like this Lance questioned why Borrowers had to leave their parents at a certain age. If his mom was here, things would be a whole lot different. He probably wouldn't feel so miserable. 

        Clutching the edge of his makeshift bed, Lance pulled himself to his feet, swaying dangerously and nearly crashing to the floor in a heap. "Damn it...." He muttered, clutching his throbbing head and squinting.

        Leaning heavily on the wall of his dusty tiny home, the borrower walked forwards and into the small crevice that leads to the entrance of his hideout. 

        Once there, Lance was surprised to find that it was dark in the living room. Then again while he was in his home there was no way of telling time. His borrowed watch had stopped ticking a long time ago.

        Walking out of the opening, Lance plopped down onto the tv stand a few inches away. With a pained grunt, he fell to his knees. Taking a moment to recover, Lance limped to the front of the stand and looked out across the living room with squinted eyes. 

       Gathering up his nerves, Lance opened his mouth. "Keith?" He called out weakly, hoping that maybe the human was still awake this late at night. He got no reply. "Kosmo?" He tried. He was still terrified of the dog, but if he could get the fluffy dogs attention maybe he could hitch a ride to Keith's room. Then again if Keith was asleep he really didn't want to bother him. 

        When not even the dog heard him, Lance sighed and decided to do this the hard way. Turning around, the sick boy made his way over to the little rope ladder, crafted from twine and toothpicks. It looked fragile, but it easily held Lance's scrawny body with no problem as he slowly made his way down.

        It was a long painful journey, but eventually, he made it to the bottom and dropped the last few inches, collapsing into a heap. Ironically enough, it was the same spot he had broken his leg weeks ago only this time there was no life-threatening dog nearby. For now anyways. 

        Stumbling to his feet, the weak, ghost skinned borrower wandered his way out from behind the tv stand and out to the open living room floor. He made it about halfway to the coffee table before his vision started swimming with black spots and his body tilted to the side. With a dull thud, his unconscious body hit the wooden floor.

        What must have only been a few seconds later, Lance opened his eyes to soft padding noises coming towards him from the kitchen area. For a  moment he thought Keith had woken up, but the steps were much to slow and quiet to be the humans. So it must have been Kosmo.

        Closing his eyes with a dismayed groan, Lance's answer came in the form of a wet nose nudging him and a loud whimper from the massive dog. A warm puff of air washed over him as Kosmo sniffed him curiously. The entire time, Lance stayed perfectly still. Even if the dog didn't want to eat him, it was a giant, unpredictable animal. A wolf hybrid no less. 

        "H-hey buddy....." Lance said softly, nerves making his voice more stuttery and hoarse than it already was. Kosmo whimpered again at the sound of the borrower speaking. With a soft thud, the dog laid down on the floor, paws on either side of Lance and his fuzzy muzzle right in front of the miniature person. 

        Shivering a bit, Lance scooted just a smidge closer to Kosmo and leaned against the warm fur. He sighed in relief as the fur was much warmer than the cold dark wooden floor. 

        Suddenly, Kosmo sat up, letting Lance plop back onto the floor. "Come on dude!" Lance complained, coughing loudly as he sat up. "I just g-got comfy." He said with a shiver. His complaints were cut off when Kosmo stood up and leaned his head down, mouth open. 

        "Shit!" Lance cursed as pearly white teeth came down upon him. The boy put his arms over his head as if the small action alone would save him. 

        Instead of a painful bite like he was expecting, two sharp teeth snagged the back of his shirt and lifted the tiny Cuban male right off the floor and into the air. "No! Bad dog! P-put me down!" He yelled as loud as he could. Before he could get too far with demands, he started coughing again. 

        Instead of listening to the borrower's demands, Kosmo turned around and trotted into the kitchen, the tiny borrower swinging side to side as he hung from the dog's mouth. At first, Lance thought nothing was worse than Keith carrying him, but he decided he disliked the dog ride even more so. The constant swaying back and forth as he dangled like a leaf was making his headache and nausea return fullscale.

        Kosmo made his way through the kitchen and over to Keiths closed bedroom door rather quickly. Was the dog taking him to Keith, or trying too at least? Kosmo was a lot smarter than Lance made him out to be.

        Kosmo let out a high pitched whine that did nothing to sooth Lance's headache as the dog reached up with one paw and started scratching the door, his dull claws scraping against the wood loudly. There was no reply.

        As gently as he had been before, the dog leaned down and set Lance down on the cold tile floor. Head pounding and breathing labored, the borrower silently slumped to the ground with glazed over eyes as they tried to focus on anything in the dark room. Rolling over onto his stomach, he tried to push himself up only to fall facefirst back to the tile. 

        Before he could try again, Kosmo barked. Lance wanted to cover his ears, but he had no strength left anymore. Very faintly he could hear muffled yelling from Keith's room as he scolded the dog for barking this late at night. But Kosmo only barked again, scratching the door once more.

        A frustrated groan came from the room followed by the soft padding noise of bare feet on the floor. As the footsteps came closer to the door, Kosmo quieted down and moved to stand directly over top of Lance, his massive fur form towering high above him. It was dark, Keith wouldn't be able to see Lance on the floor so the dog was protecting him from getting squashed by accident. 

        The door opened to reveal a very disgruntled looking Keith wearing only boxers and a stained white tank top. His hair was sticking out in every direction and Lance would have laughed if he wasn't sick with two giants standing what looked miles high to him. 

        The human kneeled down to the dogs level, still not having noticed Lance and pet between Kosmo's ears. "What are you doing up this late? Hm?" He asked. "You get lonely or something? You literally begged to get out of my room like 5 minutes ago." He complained. Kosmo didn't lean into the pats like he usually did, and only continued to whine and whimper, poking at Keiths face with his snout.

        When confusion crossed over Keith's face, the half-wolf took a few steps back and leaned down to point his face directly at Lance. The foggy minded borrower heard a faint gasp and what sounded like his name come from the human's mouth. He let out a pained moan when Kosmo gently nudge his side and scooted him a few inches closer to Keith with a half growl half whine. 

        "Lance!? Oh my god are you ok?" Keith asked, dropping down to his knees, hovering his hands near Lance's limp and unresponding form. "Are you hurt? Did you fall from somewhere?" The worry was thick and it heavily reminded Lance of when he was still living with his mother. 

        Shoving his headache aside the best he could, Lance shook his head even though he doubted Keith could see him very well in the dark. But the boy kept surprising him. An index finger made its way into his line of sight and then gently brushed against his forehead. "You have a fever." He stated. Lance didn't feel warm though, he actually felt rather cold. "I can't give you medicine but we have to get your fever down."

        Without warning, Lance was scooped up into Keith's hands and he was lifted from the cold floor. Thankfully Keith moved much slower and smoother than the dog did so his headache wasn't as bad for this ride. And this time around, it was actually quite pleasant. That was probably just the fever talking though.

        Without the usual fingerless gloves, Keith's bare hands were much warmer and softer than the other times he had held Lance and the borrower found himself leaning into the fingers curled around him, trapping the warmth for him. As Keith walked he could hear Kosmo following close behind, whining occasionally. The dog seemed almost as worried as Keith did despite not knowing what exactly was going on.

        "I'm going to assume this is why I haven't seen you in 4 days," Keith muttered quietly as he walked to the living room and used his elbow to flip on a light switch. The yellow light blinded Lance and he flinched away from the brightness and closed his eyes tightly. Keith adjusted his hold to where one hand was over Lance and shielding him from the light. 

        "Didn't want to worry you...." Lance croaked out. 

        Keith winced at how hoarse the borrower's voice sounded. "Well, you started worrying me when you vanished out of the blue. I looked everywhere I could for you. After a while, I figured you had either gone back into hiding or left altogether." When the human said this, he looked almost sad, as if he was upset that Lance could have potentially just left without a word.

        "Oh..." Lance said quietly. He coughed a bit, covering his face with the crook of his elbow. "Sorry." the boy stated.

        "Don't apologize, just tell me next time if you get sick so Kosmo doesn't drag you to my bedroom again. That doesn't sound like much fun to me." Keith stated with a small laugh. "Speaking of which, let's put him to good use."

        Before Lance could ask what he meant, Keith took one of his hands and patted it loudly on a couch cushion. Kosmo hopped up to where Keith had pat and lay down, looking up at his owner expectantly. Gently, Keith moved his hands full of borrower to the wolfs furry side and slowly slid Lance from his grip down onto the fluffy dog's side.

        The moment Lance felt the warmth radiating from Kosmo, he melted. His body went lax and his eyes fluttered shut with a sigh. The heat felt absolutely wonderful and his shuddering ceased soon after. He would have fallen asleep if had not been for Keith nudging his shoulder gently.

        "Stay awake just a bit longer, ok? I'm going to get you something to eat and drink and see if I can't bring your fever down some." The violet eyes human said, kneeling beside the couch so he was eye level with Lance. His eyes softened for a moment before Keith moved the hand that had nudged Lance and rested it against Lance's forehead. "How are you feeling?" He asked in a quiet, gentle voice with sincerity the borrower did not think Keith was capable of.

        "Like shit." The tiny person stated with his eyes half-lidded, leaning into Keith's touch. Normally when he wasn't loopy with sickness he would have recoiled and shoved the hand away. But now, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Keith was intimidating, yes. And yet Lance was not scared that Keith could hurt him. He trusted Keith.

        "Well, that's expected. Being sick sucks." The humans said, standing up with a half smile. "I'll be right back." 

        The raven-haired boy turned and walked away from the couch and out fo the living room, leaving Lance to lay comfortably against Kosmo's side and allowing the gentle breathing of the dog to lull him into a state of ease. With a yawn, he realized that this was far more comfortable than his makeshift bed back in his hidden home.

        Lance decided a short, well-deserved nap wouldn't hurt, so he closed his eyes, and fell asleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you have suggestions for a prompt feel free to comment your ideas below!


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